ORGAN PIPE CACTUS NATIONAL PARK
We exited off I-10 heading south on 85 for about two and a half hours and two US boarder checkpoints later we arrived at Organ Pipe Cactus National Park. If you find yourself in Mexico, you have gone too far. There is a 21 mile dirt loop road to take you around the National Park. The fee is $8 per vehicle, but our National Pass took care of that. There is a vehicle restriction of 25' long. With some of the turns in the mountain and dirt road I would not recommend a normal size RV of any length. There are a total 18 stops on the loop. There was a second drive path, but we did not go because there were restriction on the path about half way in and didn't fill comfortable going off-roading in a HHR.
I recommend going inside the visitors center first to view the National Parks video, exhibit and getting the maps of the two loop or you might find yourself thinking that all the cactus look the same and not understand the difference. The National Parks name sake is from the cactus the looks like organ pipes and are commonly only found in this area of the US.
We took the 21 mile loop road and found the first of two covered picnic areas where we stopped to eat our packed lunch. The view was nice, surrounded by the many types of cactus and mountain rang. We continued on the loop to take in the view of an ache high on the mountain top formed by volcano ash. As we drove to the next covered picnic area we found five vehicles, but no people. They must have took one of the hiking trails. What was so unique about one of the vehicles was that it was an extreme off road RV and from all places the licence plate was from Sweden.
Be advised that on your way back into civilization you will have to stop at the two US boarder checkpoint. They asked questions where are we coming from and if we came from Mexico at the same time they had dogs walking around our car when they checked our ID's. Also boarder vehicles are everywhere behind bushes and cactus looking for speeders too. Keep your eyes open and have ID's for everyone in your vehicle and your trip to Organ Pipe Cactus National Park will be worth the trip.
I recommend going inside the visitors center first to view the National Parks video, exhibit and getting the maps of the two loop or you might find yourself thinking that all the cactus look the same and not understand the difference. The National Parks name sake is from the cactus the looks like organ pipes and are commonly only found in this area of the US.
We took the 21 mile loop road and found the first of two covered picnic areas where we stopped to eat our packed lunch. The view was nice, surrounded by the many types of cactus and mountain rang. We continued on the loop to take in the view of an ache high on the mountain top formed by volcano ash. As we drove to the next covered picnic area we found five vehicles, but no people. They must have took one of the hiking trails. What was so unique about one of the vehicles was that it was an extreme off road RV and from all places the licence plate was from Sweden.
Be advised that on your way back into civilization you will have to stop at the two US boarder checkpoint. They asked questions where are we coming from and if we came from Mexico at the same time they had dogs walking around our car when they checked our ID's. Also boarder vehicles are everywhere behind bushes and cactus looking for speeders too. Keep your eyes open and have ID's for everyone in your vehicle and your trip to Organ Pipe Cactus National Park will be worth the trip.
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